Brave souls climb to the top in the 2018 Grease Pole Festival

Only one team made it to the top of the 50-foot pole Sunday evening as part of the 49th Annual Grease Pole Festival. The fest always lands on the final day of Buffalo's Puerto Rican Festival. 

Team "South Park" managed to reach the top of the slick telephone pole in under 25 seconds as tens of thousands of spectators observed. A few other local teams competed as well as a team from Rochester. 

The tradition originated in Puerto Rico and came to the States over 50 years ago, according to Eduvigis Cordero, father of a winning climber 

“We bring the tradition from Puerto Rico to here, the United States. And we hope that our Hispanic tradition lives on here in America. We’re just living, we’re living, this is the American dream and this is what we live for.”